RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 173 



Length to end of tail 8 inches, to end of wings 7^, to end of claws 8 ; 

 extent of wings I45. Weight 2^ oz. 



In a specimen preserved in spirits, the roof of the mouth is nearly 

 flat, with a median prominent line ; the posterior aperture of the nares 

 linear, 9 twelfths long, and margined with papillae. The tongue is 2 

 inches long, nearly cylindrical for 1^ inch, its terminal part tapering, slen- 

 der, covered with a horny sheath, on each of the edges of which are 12 

 recurved acute bristles. The horns of the hyoid bone curve over the oc- 

 ciput, meet in the median line of the head, and reach as far forward as the 

 vicinity of the right nostril, being, as usual, accompanied in their whole 

 length by a muscle attached to the lower jaw. The oesophagus is 3i 

 inches long, its average diameter 5 twelfths. The stomach is muscu- 

 lar, roundish, 10 twelfths long, and of the same breadth, its tendons 

 circular and 1 inch in diameter. Its contents are remains of insects 

 and a large quantity of maize. The epithelium is tough, longitudi- 

 nally rugous, and of a reddish-brown colour. The intestine is 11| 

 inches long, its average diameter 3| twelfths. The rectum, which is 

 4 twelfths in width, gradually enlarges to the cloaca, which is of an ob- 

 long form, with a diameter of iialf an inch. No cceca. 



The trachea is 2| inches long, nearly of uniform diameter, only 

 varying from 1^ twelfth to 1 twelfth, a little flattened, its rings about 

 60. The bronchi are slender, of moderate length, with about 15 half 

 rings. The lateral muscles, which are moderately strong, terminate 

 on the last ring of the trachea, from which also come off the sterno- 

 tracheal muscles ; there are no inferior laryngeal. 



